The Crooked Path to Wellness

In an ideal world, we would all proceed happily down a path to wellness unencumbered by temptation, fatigue, budget restraints, travel food, and feeders. We'd arrive at our new and improved destination lighter, stronger, and healthier with a smile and in record time!  But, we all know that isn't exactly the case. In the course of any given week we face meals in restaurants, social events with tempting food, and the late-night munchies.  Losing weight is hard, yo.

That's why some people choose to have a "cheat day" built into their nutrition plan. I hate this idea. In fact, when a cheat day is included, I might as well go back to calling it a diet because that's what it is.  I'm known for preaching that a cheat day only cheats you, and I stand by that.  Here's why: if you're eating well, getting rest, exercising vigorously, and living a positive and healthy life, you shouldn't need (and likely won't want) to cheat. 

But that's not to say that every day is a nutritional fairy tale.  Yep, I'm going to ask you to change your perspective again. :)

Cheat, just like the word diet, is a negative word that implies that we are in such a desperate state that we have no alternative but to hide in secret and sabotage our efforts. When people cheat, it is because they don't have the confidence that they can succeed otherwise.  When we cheat, we are saying, "I can't do this on my own."  Why would we say such mean things to ourselves when we're in the process of doing something so amazing?

Remember, we're not on a diet anymore, we're changing our nutrition. And yes, on that nutrition path are some diversions. There are times when we wander off the path and explore a diversion, some of which are well worth it (your absolute favorite dessert, for example) and some of which are not (eating something sugary just because it's there).  Here's the difference between and cheat and a diversion:

A cheat is a negative message that tells us we can't handle our weight and wellness on our own.

A diversion is a positive message sent in the confidence that we have the skill set to keep the portion manageable and return to our regularly scheduled programming.

The difference to your brain is enormous.

I'll agree, sometimes there is nothing better than that rebellious feeling you have when you throw caution to the wind and say, to hell with it, make mine a double-scoop!  It feels great!  But trust me, it feels even better to know that the choice to do so can be a positive one.

You can manage your weight and wellness with confidence.  You don't need to cheat on yourself. You deserve better than that.

Positive self-talk is more powerful than we know. Just saying one positive message to yourself activates your brain to be happier and more optimistic. Try it today. Stop cheating, start winning, and get out there and get healthy!

Watch Yo' Mouth! Why I hate the word "diet."

Diet is a four-letter word.

In order to spell, "diet" you have to start with, "die".

The diet starts Monday!

What else do we say to show our dismay with being on a diet?  It might be one of the most loathed words in our language, and for good reason. It conjures up images of deprivation, sacrifice, punishment, and happy people all around us gleefully eating things we're not allowed to eat because we're on a &*^%$ing DIET. >:/

I used to get called out for using the word diet.  "You're not fat," people would accuse. I'd try to explain that my "diet" was just my nutritional plan, not necessarily a scheme to lose weight.  We all have a diet - it's the menu of food we have planned for the day. But that word carries so much negativity with it that eventually I just stopped using it.  Now, I refer to my "nutrition."

I like it much better! Not only does "nutrition" have a happier sound, it equates to balance in my mind.  "Diet" means the scales are being tipped out of my favor.  "Nutrition" puts the power to choose back into my hands, where I like it. 

Think about this:

What happens as soon as we go on a diet?  We want whatever isn't on the diet!  But what happens when we simply change our nutrition?  Instead of being shackled by the rules of our diet, we're making choices.  What a huge difference!

What happens as soon as we got off of a diet?  We gain the weight back.  What happens when we go off of nutrition?  We die. Honestly, do we ever go off of nutrition?  No! We do nutrition all day, every day. It's just what we choose to be part of it that makes us feel like we need that bad four-letter word.

Try this today - instead of vowing to go on another diet, promise yourself to just change your nutrition.  Walk around in that for a while and see which one you like better.  And if you need help changing your nutrition, let me know.  I'm all over that stuff.

Change your words, change your mind, change your life.  And get out there and get healthy!

The Rule of the Belly

It was an unladylike, multi-napkin lunch at Moe's for me today.  I know, pick up your jaws from the floor, pregnancy makes you do some wacky things!  Today, it was a burrito.  Not only did I need one, I needed one bad, with real sour cream and lots of it.  It would not, could not, should not be ignored.

Remember how I told you that I gained 75 lbs in my first pregnancy?  Sour cream had a lot to do with that experience.  I just could not get enough!  I ate tacos for three weeks straight, no lie.  Well, this time around I am going about things with a little more restraint so I'm working hard to strike a balance between giving in to pregnancy cravings and not eating like a vacuum cleaner.

So, I pulled up Moe's website and went straight to the Nutrition Calculator so I could find exactly what I wanted - because you know pregnant ladies need exactly what they crave - without eating 900 calories just in lunch. It was perfect.  I was able to satisfy my craving and get out of there under 500 calories.  A little more than I would typically spend on a lunch, but the beast has been fed!

I have a firm belief that pregnancy cravings should not be ignored.  There is some weird reason why we need bagels with cream cheese and cool ranch chips sprinkled on top (saw that one online) or a specifically specific brand of ketchup to go on our grilled cheese sandwiches (no I do not want to eat that...yet).  Who knows why it happens, but I've learned the hard way not to try and reason with a baby.

But, I apply the same three rules to pregnancy cravings as I do regular ones:

1. Stall. I've gotten through many a craving by telling myself I could have it tomorrow, a day that never comes.  "Oooh, a brownie sounds good.  Maybe I'll have one tomorrow."  Most of the time by the next day I am not as interested anymore.  But when a craving keeps tapping you on the shoulder for a few days, move to rule #2...

2. Go get it.  Get exactly, precisely what you want or you will just eat around it, circling closer and closer until finally you cave in and eat it, and by which time you have now eaten way more calories than you would have had you just eaten what you wanted in the first place!  Which is why you should....

3. Manage the portion.  I didn't get a ginormous burrito today, I got a small one and I made it work with the rest of my day.  I knew it had to have sour cream, so I skipped shredded cheese to save calories.  Go get what you want - exactly what you want - but manage the portion and make compromises on the stuff that doesn't matter so it doesn't wreck your day.

I love the fact that I was able to get what I wanted today and still keep my day healthy.  Cause who knows what I will want to eat tomorrow. :)

Good day!

Sugar: Knock it out in 4 steps

Sugar.

Some people say it's the devil.  I have been one of those people!  Truth is, when you've got sugar cravings or you're trying to reduce it in your nutrition, it can definitely feel like you're fighting a losing battle.  But rest assured, it can be done and is well worth it.  It's not easy, it's NOT EASY.
It. Is. Not. Easy.  Seriously.  But it is sooooo worth it.
Here's how:

1. Know your sugar. Sugar goes by many names, and lurks in just about every processed food, even clean products.  We have gotten so conditioned to expect sweet foods in our society that sometimes sugar is one of the first few ingredients listed.  Since ingredients are listed in order of quantity, this is a huge tip-off.  Look at the ingredients and the nutrition label to see what kinds of sugar are in the food and how many grams. 

2. Do the mental work. Getting off sugar is mostly mental. You will crave it, but that's just your brain wanting it.  You don't need processed sugar.  You just want it.  Luckily, in the next step, we can change that.

3. Re-train your tastebuds. It doesn't take as long as you think, but give it a few days or maybe a week for your tongue to get used to the taste of food without added sugar.  Expect your tongue to turn into an angry toddler at first, kicking and screaming for the sugar it knows and loves. Cut it some slack, it didn't know you were going to do this!  But once you break it's will and it realizes who is in charge, it will grow up and begin to like the actual taste of real food.  Trust me, this is a hard step but it doesn't take long.

4. Notice the difference between sweet and sugar.  Our tastebuds are conditioned for astronomical levels of sweetness.  If you eat a traditional baked good after a few weeks of not having processed sugar you'll be shocked at how saturated it is with sweetness.  But, plenty of food is naturally sweet without added sugar!  Eventually, these naturally sweet foods will become your base and your tastebuds will recognize them as all you need to satisfy your sweet tooth.

The next time you have a sugar craving, stop and ask yourself whether it is sweet or sugar that you really want.  Eat a mango, a handful of strawberries, or mix some fresh blueberries into plain greek yogurt.  Give your tastebuds a chance to appreciate the difference, they're smarter than you think!

Good day!

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Simple Swaps for Clean Eating

Back in the day, if you wanted to eat clean it meant spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing your own food from scratch and at times, even deciding to sacrifice eating some foods because there just wasn't a healthy alternative.  Sure, supermarket shelves have long been stocked with food that seemed healthy, but now we know that when cookies have suddenly become "sugar-free," that it's because a whole bunch of other stuff has been added to make sure they still taste good.  In this case, "stuff" is code for "not food."  Not food means not healthy.

But now, eating clean is much more maintstream and as a result, more products are available on the market to make it easier for families to do it without having to become farmers. Here are some of my simple swaps for food that you and your kids probably like to eat and can still enjoy in a clean eating household.

My kid likes: Fruit chews. But they are just a bunch of processed sugar!
Instead, I buy him Annie's Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks  Still a bunch of sugar, but it's real sugar. I'll take real sugar over manufacutured any day.

My kid likes: Cereal bars. But the list of ingredients reads like a most-wanted list of chemicals and additives.
Instead, I buy him Barbara's Bakery Fruit and Yogurt Bars.  They're great for school lunches.

My kid likes: Macaroni and Cheese. And seriously, who doesn't?  But I want to make him macaroni and cheese, not macaroni product.
So I buy him Annie's Macaroni and Cheese and he loves it.  I used to puree a bag of mixed vegetables and mix it in but he doesn't fall for that anymore.  Hey, I tried!

And the final simple swap is something I like to eat: sweet potato fries!  I really love sweet potatoes and I love ketchup, so sweet potato fries are a definite crave.  I have never been successful at making them myself, so I was thrilled when I found Ian's Natural Sweet Potato Fries in my freezer section.  They're easy, fast, and taste great. 

Naturally, the best way to eat clean is to stick with the most pure food you can: fruits, veggies, lean meats, and homemade bread.  But if you don't live alone and have a lot of time on your hands, it's great to know there are products out there that can bring clean eating to your kitchen without your family wanting to stage an intervention on you.  If these products are not in your grocery store, especially if you live in a Sabotage City, ask for them!

My Snack Can Beat Up Your Snack

Everywhere I go, people wanna know...

what I'm eating, so I tell 'em....

People always want to know what I am eating, so I am telling you one meal at a time.  Last time it was my yogurt/blueberry/museli afternoon snack, which got so many great review and recipe requests I was floored.  I honestly did not know that many people read this blog. 

Today, it is my morning snack, and this one is pretty easy: fruit and almonds.  My old stand-by.  I eat this all the time, and its great in a pinch.  It is also pretty portable, which is a plus for me. 

There are only two "rules":

1. stick to berries as much as possible (I personally find that apples and pears make me retain water, and melon is a high-glycemic food that I don't have much use for).  I also include peaches and kiwi when I can because I like 'em.

2. eat only whole, natural almonds.  Not roasted.  Not salted.  Not covered in chocolate.  Just plain old boring dry almonds.

Eating clean and healthy doesn't have to be complicated, folks.  In fact, eating from the earth is the most un-complicated thing I do each day. When you follow the basic guidelines of eating fresh veggies, fruit, and lean protein for your meals, it is really, really, really hard to screw up.

Good day!

Introducing Erika

I am so so so so so proud of my wonderful friend and client, Erika, and am up on the rooftops shouting about her wild success as a clean eater.  Everyone who asks me about eating clean, every person who tells me they want my help getting healthy, and every friend who knows in their gut what to do but just hasn't worked up the gumption to do it....read Erika's story.  I've asked her to share it in her own words, which she has done beautifully (and I'm not just saying that because she says I am awesome, LOL).

Erika, over to you!

Take it from someone who’s been dieting in some form or another for more than 25 years: Heather Fuselier is the best lifestyle/wellness coach a woman (or man) could have, and if you’re willing to do the work, she will change your life. But first, she’ll shut down every excuse — and I mean every excuse — you have for not achieving your goals. That’s what she did for me. The result? At age 40, I’ve lost more than 73 pounds, and I’m 10.5 pounds away from my goal weight.



When I met Heather, I was carrying 224 pounds (an all-time high) on my 5’4” frame. I’d always been overweight, but I was now at a point where my joints and feet hurt constantly, and I was miserable. As a working mother then in my late 30s, I didn’t exactly have time, circumstances or even genetics on my side. I was ready to take responsibility my health and start changing my body, but I didn’t really know where to begin.

With her trademark combination of compassion and toughness, Heather helped me cut through the clutter of diet and fitness mythology (Just take the stairs!) and negative self-talk. First, she helped me clean up my eating and disabused me of the notion that nutritionally bankrupt food qualified as a “treat” or a “reward.”

Whenever I complained or felt deprived, Heather listened patiently, reassured me that the feeling would pass, and then asked me if I’d planned my workouts for the week. It’s not that she didn’t sympathize, because she knows from personal experience how hard it is to ignore the siren scent of waffle fries. But if I was seeking an enabler, I’d come to the wrong place.

When I moved on to complaining about the workouts, she reminded me that a) changing your body through regular, vigorous exercise is supposed to be challenging and that b) I would never regret completing a workout. I couldn’t run for a full minute 18 months ago. Thanks to Heather’s guidance and encouragement, I completed a 3K before my 40th birthday. Since then, I’ve completed a difficult-course 5K, and running has become my cardio of choice. I’m certainly not breaking any time or distance records, but as someone who always thought of running as something far beyond my capability, finishing a 30-minute run — and enjoying it — makes me feel like a gold medalist.

Losing weight hasn’t been the gimmicky, quick-and-easy process I always dreamed of. But even when I didn’t believe in myself, Heather did — and it made all the difference. I am thinner and in better shape than I was at 30. I no longer leave clothing stores in tears or avoid being photographed. Most of all, I like setting a good example for my kids, who now have two healthy, active parents.

When I began this journey in earnest, Heather promised me that the short-term discomfort of pushing myself would be worth it in the long run. She was right, and I can’t thank her enough.

— Erika D. Peterman

Heather's Note: Not only is Erika is a clean-eating wellness champ, she is also one of the hilarious and kicky women of Girls Gone Geek, a highly entertaining comic book blog, as well as the writer of I Don't Read My Blog Either, where she never fails to crack me up with her commentary on pop culture as she sees it. Check her out!

My 3.5 Pack Abs

Lately I've been doing a little fitness challenge each month, mostly just for myself but also anyone else who wants to play along.

• In February I worked on incorporating more moderation in my diet and workouts (and immediately went back to my rigid structure as soon as I could because I was so miserable).


• In March I challenged myself to beat my 85% success rate at earning stickers each day for good nutritional choices (smiley face sticker) and solid workouts (star sticker) for the month, and ended up with a 5% increase! Yay me! High five!

The purpose of the challenges is simple: find a creative and fresh way to keep personal wellness at the top of my mind and tackle a specific hurdle that I am dealing with. Since my attention span is pretty short, I keep the challenges short, and it is really rewarding to hear my friends talking about their own progress in the challenges, whatever spin they choose to put on it to suit their personal goals.

So last month I launched Operation Muffin Top, because when I pulled my summer clothes out of hiding...well...they didn't fit as well as they did last year. So I took a good look at my portion sizes, had a little come-to-Jesus meeting with myself, and tackled the problem head-on: a solid month of really cranking out the cardio and keeping those portions in check. After all, even healthy calories are calories!

After a couple of weeks my hard work began to show. And, to my complete shock and awe, so did my abs. Now let me get one thing straight - we all know people who won the genetic lottery and have slim, flat, muscular abs despite the fact that they regularly eat peanut butter straight out of the jar while frosting a cake, which they then eat. In this instance am referring specifically to my brother's former girlfriend. And then there are women who work their tails off by eating clean and sweating out their body weight every day to bring out their core muscles, and their discipline shows. I am neither. I have never, ever, ever, despite years of Pilates, hours of Abs of Steel, Richard Simmons-esque cardio marathons, and monk-like nutrition, had great abs. I just don't. It sucks and its not fair but it's true.

Or at least, it was true. One day last month, I saw something strange. It looked like...could it be? No! But there it was - the very first beginnings of my very first six-pack. More of a three-and-a-half pack. Hell, I'll take it!

I was stumped, and more than a little humbled. You see, while I had been cranking out the cardio and being religious about my nutrition and portions, I had also been doing something else: resting. On purpose, not doctor-mandated rest like I'm more accustomed to. I've been taking Thursdays off of exercise, going to bed earlier, and even sleeping later some mornings. Yeah, it's meant that I don't have as much time to watch TV or interact with other humans, but it's how I roll right now. And apparently, I'm rolling in the right direction.

So for May, I have a new challenge - do not make eye contact with any of the good work I did in April. Now that I've noticed this nice little development, I'm having to restrain myself from my usual modus operandi of poking at it with a stick until it bites me.

It's funny how life reveals these little lessons when you least expect them, but then "forgets" to include the instruction manual. I'm not quite sure what to do with this small victory over myself, and I don't want to screw it up.

Something tells me the best way to do that is to sleep on it.

Sick of Deciphering Nutrition Labels? Stop!

Just a warning here - I have my megaphone out and I am stepping onto the soapbox.

It's no secret that the United States has a bit of a weight problem. Over a third of our population is categorized as obese, and leading trends show that statistic destined to grow over the coming years. While we are a society obsessed with diets, exercise, and body image, its obvious that our methods for achieving our ideals are flawed:

• Diets sabotage us.
• Guaranteed-results workouts require actual work and discipline.
• Reese's Peanut Butter eggs now look like this:

So it may seem like great news that such notable people as Michelle Obama, our Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and the CEOs of food manufacturing companies are jumping on the healthy-eating bandwagon, calling for not only more truth in advertising but actually changing the way food is mass-produced to include healthier ingredients. So why do I feel so cynical about it?
I mean, hearing our First Lady tell the bigwigs at Kraft that, "we need you not to just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children," should be a good thing. And it is. The aggressive marketing of crap to kids is not a new concept, but is getting out of control. Its reassuring to read articles such as this, which point to the potential changes in food labeling that may help educate Americans about the food they are buying.
I guess I could say that I understand how families are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to convenience food, but I would be lying. I just don't think it is unreasonable to think that instead of perusing the grocery store aisles trying to translate the nutrition label or list of ingredients on a food package, they may push their buggy out of the marketing section of the store and into the part that has actual food.
Here are some examples of food if you aren't familiar:

I have a quick and simple solution to the confusion that Americans are facing when it comes to reading nutritional lables and lists of ingredients: don't do it. Instead, eat food that doesn't have any mystery about it at all - fruits, vegetables, chicken, turkey, fish, and whole grains. Get a breadmaker; it takes less time to throw together a loaf of bread and set a timer than it does to sign up for Weight Watchers.

A co-worker recently stopped me in the hall at work and vented about being so confused about whether to eat low-carb, low-fat, low-calorie, which foods had "good" fat and which ones had high-fructose corn syrup, etc. She was a mess; she was so confused and overwhelmed that I could tell she was going to ditch the whole idea and go back to eating mindlessly. I remember being that way, and I remember realizing that I could save myself a lot of headaches if I would just eat fresh food straight from the earth. I don't mess with nutrition labels because I have no need for them.

I do realize that most of the people in our country are more concerned with the short-term flavor of a food than the long-term effects of it on their bodies, and that a majority of Americans feel downright entitled to eating junk because they feel they've earned it by working hard. I personally don't understand that logic but I recognize that it exists.

I guess I am just on my soapbox today to say something really simple - if reading nutritional labels and lists of ingredients makes your head hurt, stop doing it. Eat food that doesn't come vacuum sealed.

Done. :)

The Goal Is Flexibility! Just not mine.

Last Friday I sent out my Daily Dose, which I do each morning on Twitter and via email for twitterphobes, and since it was a Friday I had to think of a word beginning with "F" to complete the sentence, "TGIF: The Goal Is.....". I started doing that on Fridays months ago and now it's a thing and each Friday I have to come up with a new f-word. Unfortunately I can't use that one.

Last Friday I used "flexibility," and planned to write something about how we all have to be flexible during the holidays to stay on our healthy plans despite travels, well-meaning family members who made special food, and the like. But then I thought....wait a sec.....why do I have to be the flexible one? Why can't they accomodate me?

I felt a little bad about thinking that seeing that its the holiday season and I am supposed to be giving, not receiving. But I pushed that feeling aside as I recalled an article that a friend sent to me a few weeks ago that illustrated my point. You can read it here.

The article is pretty much a non-apology letter for being a stubborn clean eater in the midst of holiday food, and an explanation that being a health-food snob is not personal, its just food. As I read it, I wanted to take out a full page in the New York Times to proclaim my love for the author, Jennifer Merritt, who had obviously somehow managed to tap into my soul without my even realizing it. She laid out my thoughts so eloquently I felt like I should pay her a commission or something.

I'm here now at my parent's house, having arrived with my ice chest and taking over the beer fridge in the garage with my spinach, egg whites, turkey, soup, fruit, veggies, and whatnot. I sipped soup while everyone else ate pizza, I stopped at the grocery store to stock up on pears and oranges to snack on, and I bought a week's guest pass at my family's gym so I can stay on top of my workouts. And what I have to keep reminding people is that this is what I want to do. Indulging in sugar and fatty creamy holiday food would be like having the Grinch steal Christmas from me. I really honestly truly would rather eat fruit.

Its not that my family is super unhealthy; they're not. But you know what I mean, the holidays cast a spell on all of us that makes it seem like we're un-American if we don't maintain a diet of rum balls and eggnog for the rest of the year, and practically tars and feathers those of us who pass on the traditional seven holiday pounds gained. I used to embrace the calorie-fest of December and feel like I deserved to "treat" myself because, after all, it's the holidays. But over time, I began to realize that I wasn't doing myself any favors.

So, I am asking my family to give me a very special gift for Christmas this year: flexibility to let me do my weird food thing and maybe even try it out yourself. :)
I'll settle for the beer fridge. :)

Desperately Seeking Jumper Cables

I read my horoscope every morning. I know, go ahead and roll your eyes. But each morning on the way to work I open my handy little horoscope phone app and read aloud to my husband what the stars have in store for us that day. Then I provide my own unsolicited interpretation of what it means and how we can maxmize our day just by anticipating potential obstacles and planning ahead for them. My husband loves this. He can't wait for me to analyze and critique his decisions and advise him on his daily activities before he's even had a cup of coffee. Okay, that's not entirely true. He tolerates my happy chatter in the morning and silently counts down the minutes until I can pick up my car from the body shop so we don't have to carpool anymore and he can drive to work in sweet silence. Not a morning person, that guy.

ANYHOO, today's horoscope was particularly revealing. Allow me to quote (I am a Cancer):

"Corruption begins with a small lie, usually to oneself. When you begin to justify something you that you know deep down is not right, that is a sign that you are on a crooked path. Right now you are not the instigator of the corruption but may be the victim of it. Someone who preaches one set of rules but lives by another is currently disrupting your life. This person doesn't go by what's right, but by whether he can appear to be right, and consequently he fools many people. You, though, are not fooled. Find peace in knowing that what goes around comes around."

I know who the culprit is - my inner voice. You know the one....the one that tells you one glass of wine will be okay. The same one who forgives little nutritional indiscretions and rubs your back and nuzzles your neck when you promise to be better tomorrow, purring that it's okay, there is always a fresh start. But it laughs because it knows the truth. That crooked path has very few u-turns.

Personally, I blame my husband for waking her and getting her all dressed up and perfumey. He took me on a date last month. We went out for dinner, and apparently had a third wheel tagging along. She convinced me to have a glass of wine, which made it pretty easy to also have a frappuccino. Then she abandonded me and ever since, I have been playing solo defense on a muddy field, fending off more and more opportunities to engage in the kind of "moderation" that results in me being, well, where I am now. At the end of one month of wavering around, accepting less than satisfactory work and feeling the physical manifestation of my choices. As in, I feel like crap and am pretty cranky, too.

I don't do moderation. I've tried, and I hate it. It's just not my scene! We've already established that I need to lighten up but it is not going to happen so please just work with me here.

That being said, I can look back at the last month and make some not-crazy assessments:

1. I've taken a break from heavy workouts and control-freak nutrition, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. We all need a break whether we want one or not.
2. Now that the Ultimate Fitness Challenge is over, which has been my focus for the past few months, I don't have an immediate goal to work on except the triathlon in April, which seems too far away to need to start training now.
3. The combination of number 1 and number 2 equals one cranky me.

So, today I don't have anything super-motivational or enlightening to say, just kind of stating the facts of my current state. I need some jumper cables. I need to start triathlon training now, which seems pointless since the next few weeks are going to be dominated by work meetings and holiday travel. Maybe my goal should just be making it back to the start of that crooked path by the end of December so I can start January on the straight and narrow. I'm sure I can throw in some kind of wacky benchmark to make that goal seem not as lame as it does now.

My husband and I have another date this weekend. I hope he doesn't mind if we leave the third wheel at home.

One With the Spirit

Yeah yeah yeah, I'm like four days overdue on updating this blog. I know. I'm sorry.

I've been on the road. Halfway across the country and back, to be specific, in a car. I went to Omaha, NE, which required overnight stays in three hotels and a lot more time sitting on my butt than I really wanted. But, I did get in one really great workout (thank you Hampton Inn at Arbor Plaza for the fantabulous gym with HGTV) and ate okay. Yeah, just okay. There was wine.

So to say I was itching to get back to the gym would be an understatement. With all of the traveling I've been doing since the beginning of July, really good workouts have been few and far between. I am jonesing to get back in my groove. Thankfully, I have a nice long stretch of homebodiness ahead of me.

But while I was gone, I wandered into the Strategic Air and Space Museum outside of Omaha. We looked at old fighter jets and bombers and space modules, as well as some old junk stacked up against a wall that looked like it was about to be turned into a fabulous new exhibit that would be assembled after we were long gone. And near that, I spied something interesting.

It was a display commemorating the squadrons of the Royal Air Force that apparently spent some time at Offutt Air Force Base from 1958 through 1982. Each squadron had a motto, and one caught my eye. It read, "I change my body, not my spirit."

I had no idea what changing our bodies had to do with being in the air force, or why someone thought you could only change one of them at a time. But regardless, it got me thinking about whether it was possible to change your body without changing your spirit, or vice verse.

When I (finally) arrived back in the gym Wednesday morning, I still hadn't decided. I was too preoccupied with the feeling that somewhere between Florida and Nebraska, I had become completely out of shape. Everything was difficult, and I was dragging myself around like a sack of potatoes trying to get back in gear. I'm sure the wine had nothing to do with it; it was all tidal flows or karma or something completely unrelated to wine.

So ANYWAY, its Friday now and I am just starting to feel like myself again. And this morning as I was hopping around the gym on one foot (don't ask...it was calf day and Awesome was feeling particularly puckish) I laughed as I felt my groove start to kick back in. I knew my answer: the Royal Air Force had it wrong. We can't change our bodies without changing our spirits. Without a fundamental change in the way we think, the way we act, and the way we react, we will not take the actions necessary to change our bodies.

I am soooooo glad that the next few months don't require travel during the work week. And I am sooooo glad that I am back in the gym training again. And I am so so so so so glad that my spirit is glad.

Welcome back to me!

Food: It's Just Not That Into You

Warning: I am going to get up on my soapbox today. And I tried really hard to not make this sound like a holier-than-thou lecture. I just need to get this off of my chest and since my good friend E. is probably sick of me telling her over and over (and preaching to the choir), now I am going to tell you. So you'd better listen up because I am only going to repeat myself about 50 gazillion times.

Very often, people talk to me about their nutrition. In fact, that seems to be one of the only things people talk to me about these days, which is just fine and dandy with me because it is one of my favorite things to talk about. Most of these conversations begin with a sheepish confession on their part of something they like to eat that they think I won't approve of, and end with me standing on a table in an empty room shaking my fist in the air and preaching about how misguided Americans are about the purpose and role of food in our lives. I realize I am a little fanatical about food. And yes, I realize that I have gotten "worse" over the past few years.

But I truly believe 100% that most of our national obesity problem has more to do with the one-sided relationship we have created with food than with calories in versus calories out.

'cause here's the thing - food is just not that into you.

How many times have you convinced yourself that you "deserve" dessert because you worked out that day? Or that you are going to "treat yourself" to something decadent to soothe a bad day at work? How many gatherings with friends have been centered around what "bad foods" you're going to eat or how you're going to "cheat" on your diet? How many times have you eaten the last muffin because it was there, or had a slice of cake because someone made it especially for you? How often do you feel like you should indulge in something because you won't get another opportunity to eat this "special" food for a while?

I've done all of that. I've given everything to food, I've loved it, cradled it, and given in to it when it promised to make me happy or solve my problems. But it never did. Every single time, it had its way with me and hung me out to dry. I ate healthfully, but I knew I was eating for the wrong reasons. I didn't know how to live in that place between enjoying food and being in an abusive relationship with it.

And then I woke up and realized....food doesn't give a shit whether I eat it or not. Food literally could not care less whether I have a bite or leave it alone. As far as food was concerned, there was absolutely no difference between me acting like its BFF and completely ignoring it. And from that point forward (okay, it took a few wake up calls before I really got it) I was on completely different terms with food.

At first I was annoyed. After all, I had put a lot of time into our relationship. I had made special time for food, I had my "favorites," and I had always made sure that food was a priority. Then I got mad. I decided two could play at that game, and resolved to treat food the same way it had treated me: with indifference.

And for the first time, the junior-high model of conflict resolution worked for me.

I started to live by the favorite edict of a friend of mine: eat to live, don't live to eat. And I've turned into a total pain about it, too. I try to remember each day that food is fuel, and the only reason for ingesting it is to fuel my body for physical and mental operation. Things like taste are secondary to the physiological reaction that food will have in my body. Enjoying the flavor of a food that also happens to be good for me is a nice side-benefit, but I have to admit that when I see people worshiping food or getting all excited about eating something they consider decadent or "bad," I get frustrated and have to bite my tongue. That's not to say I never fall victim to it myself; I do. But it's not under the guise of having deserved it.

We don't deserve food. We use it. Food is not recreational. It is functional. I took the scenic route to figure this out, and it's taken more than just a happy wake-up call to get there. But if I can help someone take a short-cut and save themselves any more time expecting food to be anything other than science, then my journey has not been in vain!

If you're overweight, ask yourself whether you're making the same mistake I did. And if you are, come sit next to me. I'll be glad to add you to the choir.

Working the Negative

Today at the gym was all about working the negative. It was chest, biceps, and shoulders day and as a result, my eyeliner is a little wobbly. Ahhh....you know it was a good workout when you have not yet regained total use of your arms by the time you have to leave for work.

But before I did my first BOSU ball push-up, I had already spent a full 60 minutes working the psychological negative. After a weekend of nutritional choices that were, hmmmm, less than ideal, and facing a week dotted with lunchtime obligations that would keep me from my running game, I couldn't wait to hit the gym and work my cares away. I needed a good sweat, some warm worn-out muscles, and a swift kick in the pants to snap out of the negative zone I had been in for the past three days.

Unfortunately, the negative stayed with me for my hurdle training. I got to the gym early and set up in the parking lot, grumbling about how it could already be 73 degrees and 250% humidity at 4:30 in the morning. As I set up my hurdle and started on my drills under the curious eyes of other early-morning exercisers jogging past, the little voice in my head asked who I was kidding. My high-knees were pathetic. My trail leg drill was amateurish. I watched my reflection in the gym's dark window and wondered if I would ever become good at this. And I did 15 more.

The negative nagged at me during my first round of cardio, too. Doing bike intervals is usually a fun, high-energy way to start the day. But this morning, all I could think about was how my quads looked a lot more defined last week than today. I knew I needed to get positive soon, so I bumped up the resistance and pedaled harder.

Finally climbing off the bike to hit the weights, Captain Awesome set up a little circuit and informed me that we would be working the negative. "Whatever," I thought. "Like it will make a difference." I grimaced at myself. Was this really me? Why couldn't I snap out of it?

I finally felt the stress and negativity start to melt away as I concentrated on slowing down the negative effort of each exercise, really focusing on the movement and resistance of the weight. As I dedicated my attention to visualizing my muscles at work, I began to feel more like myself. And finally, when Awesome and I high-fived and congratulated each other on our hard work, I was awake.

I went in for my second round of cardio with somewhat renewed vigor. I was still angry at myself for losing focus over the weekend, but somewhere between doing karaokes in the parking lot and incline hammer curls in the weight room, I had made amends. I realized that working the negative was going to have to be part of the rest of my day. Meaning, that I was going to have to find a way to make the negative energy that is inevitable in life work for me. By harnessing the frustration I have in a goal not met and using it instead as energy to try "try again," I can more easily forgive, forget, and ultimately get over myself and move on.

Get over myself and move on. Now that's what I call resistance training. :)